# Raid on Ruse

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The **Raid on Ruse** was the first naval action to take place on the [Romanian front](/source/Romania_during_World_War_I) during [World War I](/source/World_War_I). It took place on the first day of the campaign, 27 August 1916, just as Romanian troops were crossing the border into [Transylvania](/source/Transylvania), then part of [Austria-Hungary](/source/Austria-Hungary).

## The Romanian attack

During the night of 27 August 1916 three [Romanian](/source/Romania) small torpedo boats (the old 10-ton *[Rândunica](/source/NMS_R%C3%A2ndunica)* and the converted hydraulic service vessels *Bujorescu* and *Catinca*, each armed with two torpedoes in wooden carriages) attacked the [Austro-Hungarian Navy](/source/Austro-Hungarian_Navy)'s Danube Flotilla stationed in the [Bulgarian](/source/Bulgaria) port of [Ruse](/source/Ruse,_Bulgaria), which consisted of five [monitors](/source/Monitor_(warship)) and four armed river boats. The objective was to sink one of the monitors, but the attack failed in its immediate purpose, as only one barge loaded with fuel was sunk (by *Rândunica*, commanded by Captain Constantin Niculescu-Rizea) and a quay was damaged by another torpedo. Due to this attack, however, the [Austro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla](/source/Austro-Hungarian_Danube_Flotilla) (Commander Karl Lucich) retreated 130 kilometres (81 miles) west along the [Danube](/source/Danube), stopping at [Belene](/source/Belene) and subsequently taking extensive defensive measures. The three crewmen of *Rândunica* were received as heroes in [Bucharest](/source/Bucharest), and the retreating Austro-Hungarian warships were prevented from interfering in the subsequent [Battle of Turtucaia](/source/Battle_of_Turtucaia).[1][2][3][4]

## References

1. Cristian Crăciunoiu, *Romanian navy torpedo boats*, Modelism, 2003, p. 52

1. Barrett, Michael B. (2013). [*Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania*](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/26609). Bloomington: [Indiana University Press](/source/Indiana_University_Press). p. 6. ISBN 9780253008701. [OCLC 858657475](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858657475)

1. *Rumanian Review, Volume 51, Issues 1-9*, Europolis Pub., 1996, p. 138

1. Stănescu, Raymond & Crăciunoiu, Cristian, "Marina română în primul război mondial" (in Romanian), pp. 73–76

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